Vegas

Yeah....it was fun. I don't think I'll be going back anytime soon, though.

Packing

I hate packing. It's tedious, and it makes me think. Too much. I've noticed that when I have to pack to go somewhere, whether it be for a short period of time, or a long time, I tend to rifle through my closet and look at all the crap I've accumulated over the years. While the case might not be as true since I've moved to Irvine (since I don't have all my stuff here), I still find myself looking through all of my things and thinking about each of them individually.

I remember when I was packing up all my clothes and everything I wanted to take with me to Irvine. Unlike most of my friends, I waited until the night before to pack. It took me HOURS, and I ended up not going to bed until around 6 AM, and we were to leave the house by 10, but that's beside the point. I remember packing my clothes. That wasn't a problem. Deciding what of my wardrobe I wanted to bring was a little difficult, but in looking at the big picture, it wasn't a problem. No. The problem was when I had to look through all my boxes of crap and decide what sentimental things I would bring with me to remind me of home. To remind me that there was somewhere that would ALWAYS want me back, no matter what. I remember going through boxes and boxes of toys, beanie babies, baby clothes, and other things that I have no use for now. I remember playing with my Power Rangers toys and spending a good hour playing the electronic Connect 4 game my cousin gave me before he moved to Colorado. I remember I hated that night. I had to pack a good portion of my life away, only to have to take it and reestablish myself over 400 miles away from home. I literally felt like I was putting my life in boxes.

Fast-forward 9 months. My first year was over, and instead of packing all of my stuff to take back to Sacramento, I was packing all my stuff to move across the street. I wasn't going home for the summer because I had been blessed with the opportunity to serve as a SPOP staffer (but that's a whole different story). I was moving in with a good friend from my early childhood. Once again, I found myself waiting until the last possible moment to pack my things. I think I do that because I want to savor the moments before they're up. I still don't know why I save all my savoring until the end, though. I guess it makes the feeling sweeter. Whatever.

So there I was, the day before we got kicked out of the dorms, and none of my stuff was packed. Well, some of it was. I was at a loss for where to start, so I called Cheryl.

"Hello?"
"Hey...so uh....do you think you could help me pack?"

Thank goodness she did come over, because it stopped me from playing with every single knick-knack and doodad I had laying around that dorm room. Eventually, all my things were packed and moved into the Rabbit Hole. But there was one thing left to do. I had to say goodbye to the dorm. Because even though my time at UCI certainly was not up, my time in Ciudad was up.

The hardest thing was leaving behind my RA. Even though I knew I would see more than enough of Joanne over the summer, I had a hard time holding back the tears. She'd been such an inspiration, such a guiding light. Thinking back on it now, I wasn't saying goodbye to Joanne. That much is obvious. I think I was saying goodbye more to Joanne as an RA. I wouldn't have easy access to that guiding light anymore. It was time for me to hold my own flashlight, so to speak.

But I couldn't stay away for long. After checking out of the dorms, I immediately asked Joanne if she wanted to go hang out at Cha. She agreed, so I walked back to the dorm and instinctively pulled out my lanyard to open the door with my keys.

Oh yeah....those are gone now.

To be funny, I gave Joanne the puppy-dog eyes and scratched at the door, but in all honesty, I already missed Ciudad.

Another three or so months have passed since that day, and I have yet again had to move places. Cheryl left the Rabbit Hole for a teaching job in whatever city her job is in. I can't remember the name, but I know the area. It was weird. Our goodbye wasn't really a goodbye. I gave her a hug and wished her luck in her new job. But I guess that means that I'll definitely see her again. If that was a final goodbye, I would have been crying, and so would she. But that's not the point. This is about packing, remember?

So I only moved half of my stuff to my new place. I couldn't quite bring myself to move everything out, because that meant saying goodbye to the Rabbit Hole. Saying goodbye to Shoshana and Meredith and Laura and Cheryl. Saying goodbye to the place where I literally crashed into the floor after staffing a SPOP. Saying goodbye to the place where I stayed before my own SPOP. Saying goodbye to my first introduction to Irvine. It was hard.

But yesterday, I finally moved out....and in the process, lost a pair of Chuck Taylors (I'm still looking for them, though). I made quick work of packing, though, because I was tired and didn't want to be alone in the apartment for long. I left my key on the counter, wrote a note to Meredith, who is still in town and in charge of all the finishing touches on the apartment, and I left, closing the door behind me. It was a short three months, but that was sort of my second home during the school year, and it was most certainly my first home during the best summer of my life.

And now....I'm stalling for packing for Vegas. It's the last time I'll have with a majority of Royal Year staff. It's possibly the last time I'll have with a majority of ANY SPOP staff (which I am actually perfectly okay with). I'm excited for Vegas...but I will probably have "the last time" playing over and over in the back of my mind.


I've realized that college is all about living out of boxes. It's constantly packing and unpacking, moving to new places and starting new chapters in life. Man...that sucks. But I guess I'll have to get used to it.


And Kendrick, if you read this, I really do want us to have our own SPOP house with some of the other guys from staff. I'd like to live in a steady HOME for at least once in my college career....I'm not sure I can handle packing my life up so often.

Wow

But I guess some things never change, do they?

How's this for perspective?

My best friend from when I was little just added me on Facebook. He's in the military now. Holy shit.

We used to play video games all the time and hang out in his back yard and jump on his trampoline and do all sorts of crazy shit. I don't even remember all the things we used to do.

And now he's in the military. Damn.

Chatting over lunch

I like to eat. I like to talk over lunch. I like making lunch plans and actually following through with them.

There are a lot of people I want to eat lunch with right now. I think my lunch schedule will be pretty packed for a long time to come. Make your reservations now?

so....this is new

I figured I'd give this a try. My first hurdle? Come up with a name. I'm still not entirely happy with it, but we'll see if I can think of anything better later on.